You Just Walk In, I Make You Smile
by Naeryda
Summary: He had been silently watching her in the gym for months. But seeing her sad on Valentine's Day was worrying him. So he decided to talk to her. Pruhun (Posted it on Valentine's Day on AO3 :))


[A/N: And a little warning ahead: English is not my first language, so sorry if there are any mistakes or misunderstandings :S. The title is from Spice Girls' song "Stop" (I think you all know it xD, I love the Spice girls :D fight me :D). I am not sure with the rating, because violence is briefly mentioned O.O, rated it T to be safe :3 ]

* * *

 _There she is._ The Prussian had just entered the Gym, when his eyes fell on the Hungarian woman, who was lifting weights in the corner of the room. For months, he had come with his brother to observe her; although Ludwig was enjoying his training far more than him. Gilbert's ulterior motive of seeing her do her training had one main cause: He admired her. Not only was she beautiful and witty, but she was impressive. Most of the male visitors of the gym saw the task of lifting weights as a challenge, while she did it as a little warm up. There had been one guy that tried to approach her – with other motives than just talking to her – and she had worded her opinion verbally and non-verbally. Since then, no one had dared to speak to her. So, Gilbert was left to only observe her regularly. His brother had often complained about it and said that if he wanted to date or greet her, he should approach her. Of course the confident white-haired Prussian had only laughed it off and expressed that he was too awesome to go to her. Ludwig knew that it was only a mask to hide his unsettlement. His older brother was not as confident as he seemed to be.

"Say, what kind of training will you do today?" Gilbert asked his brother.

"Cardio."

"All right," the Prussian grinned; he would have a good view on her from treadmill. He had already taken that same spot last week and overheard a conversation between her and one of the staff members. On that day, he learned her name; so not only was the view from this treadmill pleasing, but the acoustic of the room was perfect to hear her sweet voice.

Ludwig rolled his eyes upon seeing his brother's grinning expression. Though he was glad that Gilbert did not try any weird actions to receive Elizabeta's (he knew her name, age and other details because of his brother) attention. He could be childish and stupid, but he reasoned that one should not mess with Elizabeta Héderváry while she was doing her training.

It was at the end of Ludwig's last training session when his brother was messing around – not on purpose of course, his big brother tended to be clumsy when he was tired. The man in question almost finished his workout on the treadmill when he stumbled on the training tool. He fell and crushed with his face in the belt. Luckily, he stood up immediately, although his face was a little red, from the exhausted training and the injury. His cheeks were a little scraped, nothing serious, but his pale skin-colour was highlighting the red colour. As always, Gilbert laughed it off, but he did not dare to look into the direction of the object of his admiration. He feared she had seen him and that would be embarrassing for him.

But she did see him; it was hard not to react after such a ruckus was interrupting everyone's concentration. Ludwig noticed how she shook her head, a gentle smile on her face. Unbeknownst to the Prussian, she seemed to have enjoyed his little show.

After that incident, the two Beilschmidt brothers went home. Once again, the Prussian was exclaiming his admiration for the brunette Hungarian. "Brother, you really should reconsider it," Ludwig suggested.

"What?"

"Talking to her," he emphasised.

As always, the Prussian only smirked arrogantly, "Nah."

ᵜ

The brothers always went to the gym every second day, but this time Gilbert wanted to go alone. It was Valentine's Day and his brother was spending time with his Italian girlfriend, leaving the oldest Beilschmidt to tend for himself. He was bored and the TV was not offering any action movies (Valentine's Day was claiming the media that day). Being the day of the lovers, he decided to visit the female he admired the most; he would try his luck in the Gym.

He entered the building and was faced with far less visitors as usual. It was almost empty, except for few young people. His eyes searched immediately for Elizabeta. To his surprise she was there, in the same corner, doing the same training: lifting weights. Nevertheless one small detail did not left his notice. Her eyes were not as fierce as two days ago; her lips did not have the same confident smile he was used to see.

He greeted some of the persons he knew and started his workout. During his training he glanced permanently to Elizabeta whose light sad facial expression had not left her visage. It was not the first time he considered talking to her, but seeing her in such a state was worrying him extremely. After finishing his training session, he slowly walked towards her. By now, she had lay down the weights and was stretching her arms.

Elizabeta noticed his approach immediately and turned around, facing him. His cheek was still a little scraped from two days ago. "H-Hi," he stuttered, sweat dropping from his face.

"Hey," she answered calmly. Since she had taken notice of him – and that was on his first day in the gym – she had counted how many times he had secretly glanced at her. It was so often that she had forgotten the number. Although he seemed to be arrogant and self-confidant, he had never spoken to her. Until this moment, and it left her in wonder.

"I-I only wanted to see, eh ask if you are all right."

She blinked a few times, letting the sentence sink in. Had he really asked after well-being? The last time she was approached by a guy (not counting the staff), he had trying to make a compliment. In her eyes it had not been one; it was a misogynistic comment and she had taken care of the problem. She knew that Gilbert – she knew his name too – had witnessed the scene, as every other present in the gym that day.

Technically she was all right, but today was one of those days when she was reminded of her love life – which did currently not exist – and it saddened her more than it should.

"Y-Yes."

Hearing and seeing her hesitation, he knew that something was wrong. Sometimes his brother implied that Gilbert was not able to read the mood; but he was, especially when the concerned person was important to him.

"It is because of Valentine's Day?"

He knew it was a bold question, but some of his single friends were upset and sorrowful because they had no one to love on this day. For Gilbert, it was a day like yesterday or tomorrow, the only ones who profited from this occasion were the economy and restaurants. Most of those were commercialising this day to make money.

"I. . ."

Elizabeta's eyes were down-cast, her demeanour flustered and he felt how tense the atmosphere grew. Her fierce eyes stared back at him and he was aware of her defensive body language.

"L-Listen, I don't want to provoke you. But I saw how sad you looked and if it's because of Valentine's Day, then you should not be sad."

"What?" she inquired, her eyebrows knitted. The Hungarian was confused and readied herself to insult him, if he would answer with "because such a beautiful lady like you looks better with a smile."

Gilbert inhaled deeply before explaining his reasons. "You shouldn't be sad because there is no reason to be. If it is because of how everyone overrates this day, then it is not worth it," he avowed, "you are a strong and independent woman. You don't need a man to feel accomplished or happy. As long as you are content with yourself, you can reach the stars."

He genuinely smiled at her, "Why should you allow this day to take that away from you?"

Elizabeta had not expected such an answer. It lightened her up and warmed her heart. She blinked and as he received no reaction other reaction, he turned around to go back to his training.

"W-Wait," she whispered, almost inaudible. Gilbert's heart rate increased upon hearing her sweet voice. The man slowly turned around.

"Would you like t-to spend the day with me? I-I mean to drink a coffee?"

Gilbert could not believe his luck as she uttered those words. "O-Of course," he blurted flustered.

ᵜ

As they had finished their training, the two went to a bistro and drank a coffee. While they were talking about their jobs and family, Gilbert admitted his observations on her during the past months, which she replied with a knowing smile. "So these observations were mutual."

This left him speechless and his cheeky betrayed his feelings as they coloured. With a sheepish smile, he stared at her.

"Your adventurous stunt from two days ago was really funny," she then commented and giggled. For Gilbert, it was a melodic sound and he decided that he would do everything in his power to hear it again. He never wanted to see her sad face again.


End file.
